Range of motion 1
by Silverdamocles
Summary: Established relashionship drama. Mulder takes on a new casefile which has ominous overtones to his tragic past. MT angtorama and adventure WIP MSR
1. Default Chapter

  
  
Subject: : RANGE OF MOTION BOOK 1 Part 1 of? (WIP)  
  
Author: truthwebothknow1 dragonrider1ntlworld.com Aka Silverdamocles.  
  
Category: casefile. X MT/MSR A (WIP)  
  
Disclaimer. I'm warming them up for Chris second x files film but he can  
have them back all healed and feeling much chipper from all the travel they  
will be doing in this one. blongs to Fox and CC. Mulder and Scully belong to  
David and Gillian.  
  
Rating PG to NC17 fairly graphic MT and disturbing content. Complete  
angstorama and worldwide adventure.  
Spoilers. anything up to 6th season and after that AU posting in weekly parts hopefully, RL willing.  
  
Archive : Not until it's finished.  
  
Summary: Adversity comes in many forms. M&S: Together they are afraid of  
nothing and stronger than granite.  
  
Feedback: I'd appreciate it.  
  
Dedicated to my freind XU, (for your goofy sense of humor, kind   
encouragement in writing and belief in my ability. thanks. Carla (for her  
excelent friendship) and Joi (for all the encouragement and very cool cajolling  
to push me into finishing this.)  
  
Range of Motion Part 1 X Files MT/MSR  
  
Underneath your dream lit eyes, shades of sleep have driven you away,  
The moon is High outside and you are far from here.  
Breathing shifts your careless head ,Untroubled by the chaos of our lives,  
Another day , another night has taken you away my dear.  
Last night as you were lying in my arms and I wondering where you were,  
You know you looked just like a baby, fast asleep in this dangerous world,  
And all the stars were shining brightly, just like a million years before,  
And we were feeling very small ,underneath the universe.  
You know that I'm going to be the one, who'll be there,   
When you need someone to depend upon.  
  
WHEN TOMORROW COMES..... Lennox/Stewart©  
  
Ice blue eyes locked on deep brown , a subliminal quiver passing over their  
features like a ghost of something they couldn't yet grasp. . Their breath  
duelling like frigid dragons against the eeriness of a night pregnant with  
snow. The moon in full phase, casting a haze around the orange of the  
street lamps. Silently the flakes fell in some ethereal slow motion dance.  
  
Twisting , swirling . A tingle in the air, as tangible as breathing. The  
dragons swirling faster now and dissipating as fast as they formed.  
She turned , darkening her ice gaze into the night. Her dragons following  
the glare of her gaze. Feather flakes falling on eyelashes, melting into  
the flame of her hair. A warm presence on her arm had her turning back to   
him. Lips parted in a silent "O". Anxiety met anxiety. Pinched nose, jaw   
slack with unease that she felt before he did. She might never feel warm   
again.  
  
Silent, too silent, her stomach skittered uncomfortably as she looked away  
again at the inky wet blackness of the deserted street. Arms swung wildly in  
forward momentum, Ice pulsing in her veins, eyes on fire, She started  
running a good three heart beats before the salvo of gunfire richochetted  
off glass and brick like hell thunder and fractured the night.  
  
...Mulder!  
  
"MUUUUUULLLLLDERRRRRRRRRRR!!!!"  
  
42 Hegal Place November 1st. 18 Hours earlier.  
  
"You're not thinking of actually doing this are you, Mulder?"  
  
Tender green eyes met with blue. His eyes were the windows to his gentle  
heart. Open for her to see only.  
  
" I have to, Scully. It's the only real chance we have of getting  
Bartoc to release the girl unharmed. The phone call was digital but I know  
it was him. He said specifically that I was to be alone, or no deal. No  
wires and I wasn't to be armed. She would be dead tomorrow night at 11pm."  
  
Scully signed heavily. Her partner was adamant. The grim line of   
determination made his bottom lip stick out further than usual. He slid a   
CD into his music centre, and then stopped, looking pointedly at her.  
  
Scully closed the distance between them. Emotion crackled around their   
bodies like a presence.  
  
"Its suicide , Mulder. There's no guarantee that he will release her  
unharmed. Think about it. Why you? Why alone, it feels wrong, like it's  
staged. God, Mulder, How do you know he isn't playing with your head? Its  
almost as if he planned this to impress just you. An eight-year-old girl who  
couldn't match your sister's description better if she tried. He is toying   
with you Mulder." Scully took a deep breath and glared at him as if that  
would get her point across, at the same time trying to keep the fear and  
spidery fingers of dread from invading her voice.  
  
He thumbed the power switch on the CD player and let his head droop to his  
chest. The pain that creased his facial muscles ran deep and met the blaze  
in his eyes.  
  
" She's a child, Scully, just a little girl with her whole life ahead  
of her. Little girl dreams and wonders. I must try for her, how can I not do   
this?" He looked down at his partner's tiny hand that suddenly warmed his  
ice cold ones and bit his bottom lip. The uncried tears that Scully  
harboured in her blue depths almost stilled his heart. He couldn't tell her  
that he had his own misgivings about this whole shitty situation but the  
pull was too strong. It wasn't about Samantha, not really. His inner voice  
sang out but his heart was slow to follow. Whether personal feelings came  
into this or not it attacked his heart almost so he couldn't breathe. An  
innocent child needed his help. He couldn't not do this. So Bartoc knew  
which buttons to press, it might just be coincidence. Scully didn't think  
so and she was usually right.

Woman's intuition and all that shit.He couldn't let this lie. If it meant he was in danger.hell that's what Uncle Sam paid him for, wasn't it. Protect and serve. He had to. Tamara Cohen had a chance to be reunited with her loving family, he had to try and make that a reality. He was FBI both he and Scully knew danger came with the job description. This bastard had had her for 7 days already and he had been taunting Mulder by phone at least twice a day.  
  
"I'm doing this, Scully " His face broke out in an unexpected grin and   
he waggled his eyes as he leered. "I'll be wearing state of the art Kevlar".  
  
Scully squeezed his hand. Her eyes bore deeply into his.  
  
" .. As sexy as I find that Mulder, its not always enough. This is so  
risky and you damn well know it. I admire your tenacity in wanting to  
rescue this little girl , I'm worried about her too. but I don't want you  
killed either. Let us be nearby with backup. We can hang back. Keep out of  
sight but be near enough to come to your aid should you need it. Get a SWAT  
team in place to cover you. Skinner will insist anyway. You know that,  
Mulder. " He pulled her into his arms and she laid her head against his  
chest. Warm and strong. Scully breathed him in. Unique Muldersmell and Musk.  
  
The strong thumping of his heart soothed her as his arms slid over her back,  
his fingers dancing erotically, making little circles that made her breath  
come out with a sigh. Her fingers dug into his shirt as he held her  
tighter. His eyes closed. " Ok" he whispered into her hair. He flipped  
the play button on the Cd and they both began to sway to Aretha Franklin .  
  
"Mul.."  
  
"..Shuusssshhh" he breathed into her neck, his dark eyelashes crescent  
smudges on his cheeks as he closed out all but her unique scent , and  
breath, her lips as they brushed his with fire.  
  
The phone blared through the haunting track, breaking the spell that  
enveloped them. A simple everyday sound that managed to make both their  
hearts race triple time and increased that inexplicable sense of fear Scully  
felt with every ounce of her being, ten fold.  
  
Hegal Place 3.47 am. November 2nd  
  
9 hours before.  
  
Stirring, her eyelids flickered once, twice, light evaded her at first.  
Gloom and dread pervaded instead. Each breath was time running away.  
Silence could be a deafening entity in the bone chill of a November morning  
  
. The more you tried to push your consciousness through that invisible  
ominous wall, the more white noise invaded every cell, every molecule in  
your body , pulling it up from the murky depths of night terrors and dreams  
like a cat stalking its prey. Sharply expelling, the fearful paralysis of  
twighlight, awakening at a rate slower than the rest of the body's senses  
could catch up. The reality of the day and what they would do jolted her  
the rest of the way into dawn's light. Something turned over inside her  
painfully.  
  
A groan escaped her lips. Something icy and sharp clawed deep inside her.  
Everything but her mind was so still. Through partially drawn curtains ,small shards of moonlight bled golden streaks across the room as it mingled with the orange of still bright street  
lamps, casting an accusatory glare on everything around her. The wind was   
howling like some dark poisoned fanged beast , something that she could   
never name yet Mulder, with his usual verve would pursue, no doubt. She  
shivered under the Navajo blanket. No earthly creature would be out at this  
time. In this.  
  
Her eyes peered out across the room from beneath the fleece material,  
settling on everything briefly. Shapes strange and disorientating in the  
dark. Not her apartment.  
  
Mulder's .  
  
Several beer bottles and an assortment of empty Chinese food cartons  
littered the coffee table and gave a clear pointer to why she had ended up  
staying. Then she remembered the flat battery in the car. She would have to  
get the blasted thing fixed or replaced since the charge was no longer  
holding . Ever gallant, Mulder had refused to let her get a taxi home in  
such arctic weather . but then maybe they both needed the company last  
night. A reason neither wanted to voice. His eyes pleaded , said all he  
needed without any verbalisation . He told cheesy jokes, he danced, he  
laughed with her, he invaded her mouth, held her close, closer still  
,traded racing hearts...  
  
...he ripped the phone from the wall after it had invaded their safe microcosm one more time.  
  
She was here; she stayed and melted into his bare chest like she never   
wanted to come out again, letting her troubled thoughts evaporate while she  
drowned in the warmth of his racing heartbeat.  
  
The street outside was oddly quiet even for this hour, as if the whole world  
had been spirited away by some dark force. The orange glow beyond the  
curtains set fire to icy droplets formed on the windows making them look  
like bright jewels. The fish tank hummed, the fridge made a noise like  
Mulder's abused stomach after a long profile case where he'd forgotten to  
eat, and the falling snow outside tinkled against the glass as it was blown  
into tiny drifts peppering the windows.  
  
Warmth was all around her, and beneath her , everywhere but inside her.   
Rivulets of ice invaded where warm blood should have flowed through her  
veins. She snuggled deeper into the source of warmth beneath her, hoping for  
an early thaw .  
  
The sofa beneath her had taken on organic form that now shifted and grunted  
and felt like a blast furnace. Scully loved this couch but there was barely  
room for aerobics with two people lying atop it. Mulder whimpered liked a  
fractious toddler and rolled over taking Scully with him and slapping a firm  
arm around her waist and holding on like a boa constrictor. The Navajo fell  
to the floor letting the freezing air of the room blast their bare skin.  
  
Scully's warm mattress blinked and opened his eyes. They were bleary and  
unfocused. She extricated herself from his grip, his sweaty skin tearing  
from her like Velcro , as Scully swung her legs over the side and sat up  
from his body. Missing the warmth, Mulder, chewed his lower lip as he rolled  
onto his back again, flinging one arm behind his head .  
  
..And there he was , her honey painted Adonis with pillow hair, goofy grin  
and two days growth of beard!!  
  
He took her breath away, every inch ,cherished and loved. How could she have  
lived without this so long. The area around her eyes felt suddenly moist.  
  
Her fingers strayed to an errant lock of hair across his eyes, fingers  
softly touching his cheek as she moved her hand away again.  
  
" Hi, Scully? " he smirked, "I do believe you came onto me last night and  
I wasn't awake enough to enjoy it."  
  
"For some reason , I don't think either of us were in a fit state to take  
full advantage of it ," she indicated the coffee table and its telltale  
contents as she lifted the blanked back over Mulder's still grinning form.  
  
Her mouth tasted like the bottom of a Parrot's cage , she thought sleepily  
as she tucked the blanket around his waist. "Where did you get that nasty  
beer, Mulder? Not something Frohike and the boys knocked off or fermented  
themselves was it? " Scully grimaced remembering the rather suspect taste.  
  
"Its from Belgium." he sighed stroking her thigh, fingers lazily crawling  
higher. Tickling and making figure 8's on her hip.  
  
"Oh really?" As if that explained everything. " I only had 3 bottles of it   
and I have the fuzziest head I've ever had, well at least since Ron and  
  
Nancy occupied that big house down Pennsylvania avenue. " She threw back  
lightly as her eyes scanned the room for the wash bag she put down somewhere  
the night before. Her toothbrush and paste were number 1 priority. She tried  
not to think about the delicious sensations her overtly playful partner was  
currently creating.  
  
" You didn't like it Scully? Jeez , I have another 3 crates in the kitchen  
closet." He informed her with mock dismay. "Guess I know what to give your  
dear brother for his Christmas stocking!!" He looked at her heavy lidded  
,almost daring her to stop his fingers from wandering higher up her thigh.  
  
Evil leer all over his face. He might not have been fully awake but parts of  
him were applauding and open for business already.  
  
"You wouldn't."  
  
"Wouldn't want it to go to waste, Scully. Besides, A numb nuts like that  
probably couldn't tell that from gun oil."  
  
Scully stifled a laugh ,slapping lightly at his hand as it travelled as far  
as it could go without her squealing out loud. Since they had become lovers,Mulder's neighbours had to be copiously supplied with ear plugs, they never once complained. Scully lips suddenly curled in satisfaction at the thought that they probably gave them plenty to complain about, during numerous noisy sessions of "Après Travail" at Chez Mulder, last night they probably got a well earned reprieve in comparison with recent months! Either that or they were just scared stiff of her big bad G man and his bureau issued weapon. Let alone all the other nefarious goings on at his place.  
  
Blue eyes found green as she shot him an amused glance.  
  
" You are so mean this early in the morning. Anyone ever tell you that?  
Behave Mulder. I need to go get my teeth sandblasted before they choke me."  
  
She stifled a laugh at the thought of Bill picked on Mulder's Devil's spawn  
beer.  
  
Clean teeth then Caffeine. Mulder was her touchstone but coffee was the   
Holy Grail for Scully when the slivers of day break cut through to her   
consciousness.


	2. Range of motion book1 prt2

Range book 1 part2.  
  
A little while later. 2nd Nov Dawn  
  
"Coffee's ready." Scully murmured softly on her way in from the kitchen with a tray. She watched Mulder stand at the window, his back to her. He was gripping the window frame; back rigid looking out into the freezing panorama of early dawn, his eyes turned down to the silent street. Every muscle in his back standing out with knotted tension. Setting the steaming coffee on the tray down on the table, she could see his jaw clench with some undefined emotion, as the first swirling snowflakes fell past the glass panes. It was still only about 5am. Sleep eluded both of them now. No one stirred outside except for the black streak stealthing beween each bin outside the opposite apartment building. The nocturnal sojourn of a cat, padding its way gingerly through the first inches of snow.  
  
Mulder pressed his forehead to the glass and Scully, beside him now, winced at his expression she could clearly see in his reflection. Small hands sliding around his waist like a warm epithany, she placed her own flushed cheek to his naked back. She was struck just how cold his skin felt, the chill passing like a whisper through her own body. Her arms tightened around his waist. Fingers entwining with his hand she found seeking out her own. Lips parted by his shoulder blades, barely making contact.  
  
"Mulder?" Fathomless chamelon eyes of green and gold met her warm blue as he turned to her. Her arms never loosing contact with his waist with the smooth movements he made. The fake smile he had plastered on his face on turning was meant for her benefit, no doubt, but the tightened muscles twitching in his jaw gave away his unease. Since they had become so much closer, he wasn't as good at hiding it from her anymore, as if he ever had been.  
  
"I love you, Scully "It was barely a whisper as he breathed it into her hair. For a few seconds he seemed not to be able to breathe. Her lips brushed his gently.  
  
"I love you too, with everything I have" she whispered and gulped over the sudden rush of emotion she felt. Unable to fathom why she could never say that to him and admit it until recently, when she had felt it forever.  
  
His eyes closed as he hugged her close to his chest, bringing her head down to rest over his heart, where she fit snugly into that soft place ordained as her own and no one else's. They stayed like that for some time, coffee forgotten as he tried to crush her to him as tightly as he could without hurting, so hard she almost believed she would merge with him, become part of his living skin. To breathe together as one entity. Trembling hand against her hair as the wind outside howled now, threading its long fingers of dread, tearing into their safe haven and licking at their bodies with a thousand icy shards.  
  
Neither of them wanted to move, to break the spell of warmth and love they created. His fingers dug deep in her hair. Scully let herself disappear into his heart as each frantic beat offered her sanctuary. The sound and feel of it racing against her cheek swam over her like melted butter, his breath on her neck as soft and subliminal as a butterfly wing. Together they were stronger, invincible. Love naked and consuming, not wavering, the moment not lost on her or him, as they reached a new level of communion, of understanding and sense of fragile peace. A moment in space. Trapped in the amber of breathless time.  
  
Sleeplessness finally gave way to a more passionate urgency and the bedroom beckoned. Turning their back on the bleak dawn outside, they sought the haven of warm limbs and soft sheets. Sighing, trading breath and trying to prolong the night from the daybreak reality they knew they couldn't hold back forever. The coffee soon became as cold and forsaken as the weather outside. 


	3. part3

Range of Motion 3  
  
The room filled up with sounds of their ragged breathing. Scully watched in languid fascination as a drip from Mulder's sweat soaked hair, slid down his cheek and melted into her overheated shoulder like a snowflake. The rational part of her shouted that she should get up and make breakfast but the sated, panting part of her body pinned deliciously underneath his heaving chest, refused to budge, content instead with studying her lover as his dear face creased under the effort to control his breathing, his heart rate. Seconds later she realised that his eyes were open again and gazing at her in return. His face broke into a huge grin, hooded eyes black with lust, thoughtful, showing her with every molecule how much he loved her.  
  
His feelings so intense it made her breath catch in her throat. Something inside her threatened to burst at the beauty of him. In her wildest dreams she could never have imagined that anyone, especially Fox Mulder could make her this happy. But he did, overwhelmingly so and since they had taken that final step towards the love they realised had been there all along, towards sexual oblivion all those months ago, he had opened her up like a blossoming rose and she gave back everything to him without reservation, wanting him, wanting everything for him and as long as she lived, there could be no one else.  
  
"God, Dana..." His breath almost failed him as he smiled at her, showing teeth, eyes alight with a thousand shifting emotions, but mostly joy. She knew intimately everyone of them as his silent beautiful soul communicated everything his heaving lungs wouldn't allow him to. Her fingers worried his lips and he placed a kiss on the nearest one he could latch onto.  
  
"Hey.... that was, wow!"  
  
Scully was so elated to see him smiling again. Not an hour before Mulder had zoomed off to Planet Melancholy' and had dragged her along for the ride. He'd had so much sadness all his life, but just lately that had been devastatingly brought to the fore again when he discovered after his long search, exactly what had happened to his sister Samantha. Then to slice open his fragile heart a second time, the terrible news about his mother's suicide, a decision to end her life after her struggle with terminal Padgett's syndrome. Scully had feared for his sanity, his very life at two such hammer blows barely hours apart. The sorrow and guilt that poured out of him at the time had almost destroyed her to see. Grief had swallowed him whole, while she held him and cried with him. Expunging the kind of sorrow in her arms that no mortal should have to endure. Breathless agony of that night chilled her all over again in the cool air in his bedroom.  
  
A short while later he'd told her he felt free, finally free of the huge burden that his long search for Samantha that had encased his heart for so many years, his childhood irrevocably lost. The burden might be gone, but not the terrible guilt that still shackled him like a prisoner, a lead weight that that still crushed his chest under the pressure.  
  
Something else happened to both of them that night. They felt free to slip their own unspoken shackles and fell into each other's love. Bureau and Consortium be damned. If they had learned anything about that night Mulder said goodbye to his mother and sister, it was that they both knew they should grab happiness where they could. His childhood may have defined his misery up to now but if Scully had anything to do with it, it would not define their future.  
  
As a doctor, she was gutted she couldn't find a cure all for those years of guilt, shadows, lack of mother love and the brooding recriminations of his murdered father, she could only hope now to salve his pain with kisses, soft murmurs of love in the twilight hours when his nightmares claimed and drowned him like a defenceless animal tossed into a storm swollen river. Use her body like a bandage, to hold him together until the pain, fear and sweat ebbed away, her arms the reassurance and love that had always been denied him by parents that failed him. People who should have known better, tried harder, made it their priority to love and nurture away the demons of their only son, not cast him out on a childhood wasteland, ignoring his own devastation at the loss of a pigtailed little sister.  
  
Such fools, Scully thought bitterly, despite that abuse and betrayal his fragile 12 year old psyche underwent in those horrific times, an incredibly loving heart and beautiful mind emerged, fused with intellect and compassion for anyone in trouble, the lost, dispossessed souls, silent victims of humanity that cried out for justice with dead eyes from a metal slab. No wonder he felt bad about the little girl missing now, it was Samantha all over again. Her face haunted his soul just as his sisters had done more than half a lifetime ago. Hopefully he would never have to look into that poor child's trusting eyes frozen over in terror and death.  
  
He travelled on his paths of discovery and intrigue to find the truth with the wonder of a child frozen in time, ever curious and with great humour. In a heartbeat she realised how overwhelmingly glad and privileged she was that he'd chosen to love her and give her his heart to protect. Her gorgeous wise cracking visionary. She loved him too, more than life itself. They were together a symphony of one.  
  
He shifted his weight to the side and untangled their limbs, lying sideways now propped up on one elbow, long fingers stroking his stubble. Scully was woken from her deep contemplation to find Mulder tracing his fingers over her shoulder blade in silent wonder, face holding that secret smile he reserved for her when he wanted to tease her with innuendos too close to Skinner's ear shot; he knew full well it thrilled her and coaxed a huge smile from her like the one she gave him back now. When his fingers strayed to caress her now uncovered breast; they both bit their lips. His mouth suddenly on hers, probing exploring. Seeking entry. Their love was all mirrors, reflecting sensation and emotion back and forth between them.  
  
Now all that mattered was this connection of love in its purest sense. They conveyed with every breath, every heartbeat in that secluded warm bubble that was theirs alone, that enveloped them again. Scully giggled as his fingers made contact with a particularly sensitive place. The world was forgotten again. The sun outside struggled through the white gloom to spread a little warmth on the world. Shafts of light Painting the soft cotton on their bed, their heated skin as they moved in unified bliss.  
  
For the second time in an hour Mulder collapsed in a heap besides her, his heartbeat in overdrive. He tensed up at seeing the sun heralding the arrival of the day; an indescribable chill going through him that had little to do with wintry conditions outside. He shivered, feeling the chill of the room dry the sweat on his back. Mulder snuggled closer to Scully and spooned against her, hiding the unease he knew creased his face. Her body answered leaning into his, stretching like a warm kitten, tangling her legs with his, feeling him take a ragged breath, his chest expanding into her back. The post-coital haze slowly taking over their exertions.  
  
"Ohhh God, ...Scully, I think I'm done practising, can we go ...for the real McCoy...this time?" Scully's sudden giggles made his flesh tingle.  
  
"Jesus, Mulder! are you trying to ....kill me ?" A kiss. Wandering fingers. Warm breath on her neck.  
  
"Oooh ...giggling Scully. I like, ...no I LOVE giggling Scully," he tickled her cheek, his voice throaty, sexy. "Can she come out to play more often?" He was kissing the space below her throat that he knew drove her to distraction. She gave his ass a playful slap.  
  
"God Mulder, your insatiable. I'm going to be Bow legs, slightly dehydrated Scully' before too long if we stay here much longer and I'll let you burn up triple digit calories explaining that to Ad Skinner."  
  
"You know you'd love to see the look on Skinman's face, I bet he would pay real money to be a fly on our wall right now."  
  
"Ha! If only he knew what a bad bad influence on me you really are, G Man" She felt his fingers resume their wandering, coming down to caress her dampened hair with luxurious sensation, his left arm possessing her waist like she was his only anchor to the planet. "Stop that, Mulder, "her voice murmured in his ear again with breathless giggles.  
  
"I love your laugh, Scully, I wish I knew you laughed like this years ago when we met. Why didn't you? "  
  
"I Dunno," she mused, focusing on his eyes again. "I guess it just took this beautiful funny, slightly nutty FBI agent to bring it out in me."  
  
"Beautiful?" Mulder's eyebrow raised in a Scully like way.  
  
"Yes beautiful...you are Mulder. And funny, But you have lousy timing and we should get up. Her lips brushed his and she rubbed a finger over his full bottom lip that she loved so much to suck. Something in his eyes clouded over, this time she caught it. It was all it took to worry her.  
  
"Don't want to." His voice was almost a whisper.  
  
"Get up? We can't stay here all day. We have to...the briefing...." He captured her hand with his own and kissed her fingers. Silencing what neither of them wanted to voice but knew was inevitable anyway. He had put his heart and soul, every fibre of his being into loving her, almost like he wanted to bury himself inside her love and never emerge. His ultimate truth had been her. The intensity of his lovemaking startled and thrilled her in more ways than she found words for. This time it was all consuming, urgent, like he never expected it to happen again. Her own truth was that it had scared her too, but she fought against showing him that. Scully control clicking into place like handcuffs when needed.  
  
"Mulder? You okay? " That intense look again. And what was that in his eyes, a sliver of fear? His chest sucked in a deep breath and on the edge of that his smile was back, one that didn't meet his eyes. Scully couldn't help but shiver. Adrenaline rush gone she started to feel cold.  
  
"Yeah, ...Jesus, Scully. It's just cold in here, that's all. Come ere." It if were possible to get closer, he did until their skin almost merged, fingers playing with her own as he found them at her waist. With his other hand he pulled the duvet up over them like a fluffy white igloo to ward off the freezing air outside and tucked it in under her chin.  
  
"Do you ever just think of putting the heater on a few hours before you turn in. I feel like a Popsicle," She laughed as she snuggled tightly in his arms, studying his face.  
  
"I just wait until you come round and warm me up Agent Scully. You're hot."  
  
"Oh Really? "  
  
"Yeah, all I need is your wild lust for my poor naked body and a duvet of medium tog rating." He deadpanned, not quote keeping the excited thrill out of his voice. As if to make his point he nosed under the duvet to breathe hot air on her neck making her gasp.  
  
"Poor naked body, Huh? "Her eyes glittered with amusement. "I'm willing to bet you breakfast cooking detail that the heating is broken, isn't it. C'mon own up G Man. Like the toilet that sings as you flush it, the wonky faucet in the kitchen and that life form under your sink that Mr Spock would find fascinating," Mulder watched in breathless fascination as she traced one perfectly manicured fingernail slowly around his left areola. Noting with delight how his nipple puckered under her heart stoppingly slow teasing, his chest heaving out a growl. His turn to gasp. He found it so incredibly erotic just watching her burgundy painted fingers setting him on fire. She grinned as his eyes glazed over with dark arousal. Her fingertips registering his heart rate speed up under her touch.  
  
"...Err yeah. "he choked out." Busted.  
  
"Mulder, your apartment IS an X file!" Her laughter tinkled like a wind chime as her fingers continued their exploration of his chest, entwining with the sparse hairs over his sternum.  
  
"Com ere, Scully, I'll warm you up and show you my latest X file." He grabbed her arms, pulling her face to his lips as her fingers sought out his other nipple. Lack of oxygen made them come up for air. "Profile this, G woman!"  
  
"Hey I'm open to the extreme possibility that in the fullness of time you might actually remember to get your landlord to fix the damn heater."  
  
"What can I say, Scully? I have a red headed sex goddess who keeps distracting me ...and... making... me ...forget to ask." He punctuated each word by peppering her collarbone with kisses.  
  
"...Mulderrrrr... come on, we have to be up soon." She groaned at her own innuendo that look on his face that registered it that way too, knowing she was fighting a loosing battle. Painted fingers settled over his heart. He lifted his head to look at her with a sudden sad expression that she felt as well.  
  
"Have I told you how much I love you? "She found a lump in her throat as she stroked the fine hairs on his arm, his voice just a whisper.  
  
"All the time Mulder, every day in every way." Her fingers found their way to his cheek, caressing it. His smile was bittersweet; eyes glittering with sudden unshed tears.  
  
"I just need you to know that."  
  
"I do, I do too, right back at you. I know it like no other truth." He took a deep breath as she kissed him and hugged him to her. She didn't want him to see her tears.  
  
"I just wish I could stay right here. Now like this. Warm and safe. Not moving outside our space, Scully. Just here in each other arms, like this. This is so perfect...you're perfect..." She watched his fingers tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.  
  
"Scars and all?"  
  
"Scars and all. Especially the scars." To prove a point he sought out and kissed the reddened knot on her stomach that marked an old gunshot wound that that almost robbed them both of her life. When he came up for air again, the smile was back, but something else that lit up his eyes. He sighed, his head coming to rest against her forehead. His voice sounded so tiny and defeated. "I'm cold, Dana, so very cold. All I can remember is feeling cold, since Antarctica, since...ever since. My mom, ....Sam, all of it. I'm cold to my core. I ache in my bones, Scully. I...I thought that. When this.... When this is all over. I'd like to get away for a while; maybe we could take a vacation. God knows we both need one, just you and I. How about it? Sun, coral seas, beach bars, palm trees, soft offshore breezes and warm clinging skin sugared with sand." His voice though edged with sadness, by its nature held definite tones of seductiveness.  
  
"Fox Mulder asks for a vacation? A real vacation, no Ghost hunts or Aliens? Wow." Scully's lip curled up in surprise. He shook his head, raising his eyes to her. "Bet Skinner would need a blood pressure check over that," It all sounded terribly appealing though. Smothering Mulder's hot naked skin with sunscreen under a palm tree came unbidden into her already aroused funk and sent a jolt strait through her. Absently her fingers were wandering over his back in little caresses.  
  
"We are both owed a lot of accrued vacation time, we could go anywhere. Take a few months. A few weeks even. I sold mom's house on the Vineyard. It fetched a much higher price than I ever imagined. I want us to use it, to enjoy it. How about Egypt, I could make love to you in Amana and recite Ozimandius at the same time. Hawaii, Australia...you choose. I need this, you need this, I'm tired and cold, and we need some fun, being normal for a while. Rethink things...we deserve this." Scully raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Do you want to get out of the car, Mulder? " He sucked lightly on his lower lip. His eyes filling up suddenly. He was so quiet when he finally spoke, she wondered if she actually heard him. He was plucking at the duvet as if he were seeing it for the first time.  
  
"I'd like to... turn off the ignition, wind the windows down. And enjoy the view. I want to build memories of us, good memories, no mutants or vampire sheriffs, just us and a beach, mountains, You choose, Scully. It ...it struck me the other day that we have the X file memories, road trips and stuff but nothing of us as a couple. I want that. I'm nudging 40; I'm so fucking tired. I need a vacation. Now. Just for a while, just till I refocus on what it is that I'm doing here. So much has happened. ...I need you to...."  
  
"Oh Mulder..." Whatever she'd been about to say dissolved as his lips found her mouth again. More urgent than ever. Scully felt the wetness on her cheek before she noticed the tears that spilled from his eyes. 


	4. Range of motion book one prt4

Range of Motion Book 1: part 4 (disclaimers in part1)  
  
How many sorrows  
do you try to hide  
in a world of illusion  
that's covering your mind?  
  
I'll show you something good  
Oh I'll show you something good.  
When you open your mind  
you'll discover the sign  
that there's something  
you're longing to find...  
  
The miracle of love  
Will take away your pain  
When the miracle of love  
Comes your way again.  
  
Cruel is the night  
that covers up your fears.  
Tender is the one  
that wipes away your tears.  
  
But I'll show you something good.  
Oh I'll show you something good.  
If you open your heart  
you can make a start  
when your crumbling world falls apart. Lennox/Stewart ©  
  
Scully pushed a cup of coffee into his shaking hands. On her way back from the kitchen, she was nonplussed and more than a little worried to find him still wedged up against the pillows of the bed, his head bowed, one hand pulling rakishly through his hair. His skin was cold as ice when she touched his arm. She wasn't even sure up to then that he'd even noticed her return. Mulder watched her silently as her fingers pulled a blanket over his bare shoulders. He was actually on the verge of tears again when she first found him.  
  
The tears were all spent now and he seemed to be watching the growing daylight creep over the carpet and his long bare feet. He'd laid in her arms and cried for only a few moments before regaining his composure. Now he just seemed to be embarrassed. Whenever his emotions ambushed him like that he always was, as if he wasn't allowed to vent occasionally. Didn't he realize it didn't matter to her and she was there to comfort him through whatever? Despite her reassurances, the soft words of love she murmured in his ear and the arms she folded around him, he looked so shell-shocked at his weakness, but only to his own eyes. Never to hers.  
  
"I'm sorry," His voice barely a whisper after what seemed an age.  
  
"What for?"  
  
"Getting all wiggy on you." He sighed, "Everything seems to be bouncing like a yoyo emotionally today and there isn't ... doesn't seem like I can control it." Scully sighed at the seriously despondent tone of his voice and placed a hand over his wrist. It took a lot for him to admit that freely.  
  
"Give yourself a break, Mulder. You've had some incredible stress this week, actually more stress than most people see in months, even in our profession. You're reacting perfectly normally." She took a sip of her coffee and he did too.  
  
"Normal? Me? "A humorless laugh spluttered from his lips.  
  
"Yes. Actually I think maybe you should have some juice instead of the coffee."  
  
"Why?" His eyes suddenly on hers. They both put their coffees down on the bedside cabinet.  
  
"Because your pulse is racing. Caffeine will make this worse and besides you could use the vitamin C." Dr Scully mode remembering his complaint about being so cold, not sure if it was purely physical or a side effect of what had been going on all week.  
  
"Oh, I'm okay. Just sat up too quick."  
  
"Bullshit. You've hardly slept in a week, you didn't eat much last night and your heart is going a mile a minute. I'm betting your blood sugar is whacked out too. Classic stress," her hand had already moved down against his chest, hand splayed in soft stroking movements, which craftily doubled as a medical observation. Mulder looked at her fingers, blinking. Before she knew it his eyes held hers in a soft caress. The subtle shift in his eye color blew her sideways. Something very erotic tugged at her.  
  
"I think that's your doing, Agent Scully, "His quip made her smile, and then she realized that her doctoring hand had absently taken on a new more baser exploration. His breath was warm on her face and he leaned in to kiss her. "I love you", soft murmurs in her ear, the smell of his skin igniting her senses dangerously. "I could tell you that a million times, Scully and it could never be enough. You are everything; you are my peace, my hope, and every breath of air in my lungs. I so couldn't do without you. " She looked down to find his hand had joined hers over his heart. The simple combination of his beautiful words and breathless declaration seemed to melt something around her eyes and for a moment she watched him through a wet haze. The goofy grin suddenly made reappearance and something more profound in those eyes.  
  
Scully had a catalogue of uncharacteristic things she did now as Mulder's lover, things that would have warred against her usual control at one time, but the wonderful, beautiful reality of his soul had effortlessly tossed aside her reserve like breath on a silk veil and she answered him with lips, hands and the words that echoed back at him from her eyes. She would have spoken but she was momentarily speechless. She placed an open mouth kiss against his heart and drew her finger over the impression she'd left with her lips and the sensations he still felt there. The lump in her throat eased somewhat as she huddled him close to her body and studied where she'd branded his skin. His breast seemed shaped to fit her hand perfectly. The blanket was lost in a puddle round his feet now.  
  
"This," she half whispered, capturing his fingers and together rubbing them softly against his chest, flicking her eyes up to look at him. "Is mine. It belongs to me now because you were kind enough to give it to me. It's Precious to me, the most precious and exquisite thing I could ever own." Thumbs rubbed in a circular massage over the crisp hairs of his sternum that made his heart speak to her a little faster still. "And my mother always told me to take great care of my precious things, touch them, love them, never take them for granted. You know me Mulder; you can be sure I always take great care of my things. I'll love, protect and nurture this." Blue eyes implored all the love she could project with out crying.  
  
"Sure Scully, I've seen what you're like when you get a speck of fly shit on your car...sorry, sorry, oh no, don't look at me like that, I know what your saying." His smile actually reached his eyes this time, twinkling with the usual Mulder wiseass deflection." I know exactly what you are trying to tell me, because I feel it in here." His fingers pressed her small ones to the sledgehammer thumping of his heart. Lips barely kissed her hair. "Dana, you have held my heart in your hands for a very long time. There is no one else I would want even touching it, let a lone keep it. I never thought you would take it, but you did and no one was more surprised than me. You made my world; you gave me reason to carry on breathing. ...."  
  
Scully silenced his next words before his eyes started liquidizing down his face. He was close now, his eyes closed against the pressure of emotion that suddenly swelled. Her arms slid effortlessly around his neck and held him tight, fingers soothing over his spine, counting each thinly covered vertebrae, until her fingers brushed the hair at the nape of his neck and worked into his muscles. She'd rarely felt him so wired and tense, his neck felt like it had rocks in it.  
  
" Mulder, do know something love? You are so scrunched up. Feels like you have some Dilithium crystals hiding in here. Kirk's going to come out hunting soon." Fingers automatically trying to work out the kinks.  
  
"You been watching the Star Trek marathon on Sci-fi again, Scully? "I bet you have the hookahs for Doc McCoy, don'tcha?" he was beginning to moan under her ministrations.  
  
"No actually, it was that lovely Mr. Spock that caught my eye. Cool, logical, scientific, Nice ass." Mulder twisted his neck to let Scully have better access to his back and shoulders. He was too relaxed to leer but he still chuckled, tears melting into flushed cheeks.  
  
"Uuummmm, Spock, should have guessed".  
  
"Hey, Chekov was a hottie too. I used to just melt at that Russian accent. Jesus."  
  
"Aha, ....you just like guys with the beaten puppy look ...admit it."  
  
"I got a real life hottie with a nice ass right here, Mulder. And I'd never beat you.... unless you wanted me to with... something leathery... kidding, kidding Mulder!"  
  
"There was that time you shot me, does that count?" Scully tweaked his ass with her other hand. Mulder gave her a sultry look.  
  
"Cruel to be kind, dear, seriously though, I'd be failing the Hippocratic ideal if I let you go out of here as tense as this." her fingers poked and prodded. "Tell you what, lie down, we have time."  
  
"Oh yeah!!" Mulder gave his best full leer.  
  
"No, not that gorgeous, although its tempting. We just don't have the time to do that justice. Twice today already, Mulder, greedy boy. I meant a massage to get these rocks flattened out a little. If you get any more tense you'll crack teeth."  
  
"Well what better way to relax me?...Come here."  
  
"Okay G man, spread em." She was gesturing at the bed much to his chagrin. A small prod in his back caught him off balance and he landed with an "Oommmth" across the duvet.  
  
"No fair Scully, I was going for three hail Mary's today. You tease me, please me and then doctor Scully is in da house. " the duvet muffled his protests.  
  
"She sure is. Now relax or I will shoot you again. "  
  
"That'll help."  
  
"Oh Yeah, I reckon these buns of yours could stand a small flesh wound. Nothing anyone will see. ...Except me. Now, Going to try and ease these kinks, behave. Prepare to meet the magic hands of DK Scully MD," Mulder almost heard the flex and crack of her knuckles in readiness for the delicious assault. "Just a little skill I picked up in med school and what is it that I can't practice on my favorite skin and muscles with my favorite person in it. You lie there and tell me you prefer the magic fingers bed."  
  
"Cute, Scully, Can I phone a friend?"  
  
"Not unless you want to use your ass as a watering can, Mulder. Take deep breaths and relax. This will blow your socks off."  
  
Muffled laughter and groaning. "Oh yeah, I'd rather you blow...."  
  
"Mulder!!!" he felt his ass rebound off her hand and he laughed again.  
  
"Hey, you reneged on the deal, said you wouldn't beat me, you going to read me my rights?"  
  
"Would that turn you on?"  
  
"Oh Yeah, bite me. "  
  
"That can be arranged, now relax. Deep breaths, in out, in out."  
  
Mulder duly complied, sprawling limply across the sheets in a more relaxed pose, head using his arms as a pillow, sighing as he anticipated the magic that was Scully's fingers. Anxiety went with their job and for a while now, she'd kept a bottle of lavender oil in her bag when she was round at his place for just such a moment as this. She'd got it out earlier and placed it by the bed, where she reached down now to retrieve it. A small smile curling her lips as she straddled her naked partner. This was one of the few times she could render Mulder speechless. His eyes were closed, his mouth turned to the side, pushing out that adorable lip even more as small contented breaths of air escaped across his arms and into the sheets.  
  
"Arms by your sides, Mulder, you know the drill. You are supposed to relax." He grunted and repositioned his arms, flush alongside his torso. His head to the side buried in a pillow. "You have the right to remain silent, while I do this." She let her breath kiss against his neck, knowing full well the effect it would have on him. Something that sounded half gasp, half laugh, sang out of the pillows. She tipped a pool of the fragmented oil in her palms and warmed it by working it through her fingers for a few moments, before pouring it onto his back, smoothing her small but firm hands over the heated gold of his skin. "You have the right to relax, Anything you say will be taken down, and used by me for blackmail purposes later that will require a lot of atonement on your part. "she purred, as his thighs, calves and the round firmness of his buttocks all came under her expert touch as she made her way up his body, the motions of her hands always following the flow of his circulation, always coaxing the blood back towards his heart.  
  
". Just lock me up agent Scully; I'll gladly be your prisoner forever with no hope of bail! Just throw away the key."  
  
"Mean that?" Her fingers barely tickled the sides of his torso. making him take a shuddering breath.  
  
" Aha...yeah. Just promise no tickle torture." Her hands glided up his ribs and she felt his chest fully expand against the pads of her fingers when they pressed lightly into his skin.  
  
"Ummmm. We'll see. I never say never, G man." Her fingers sliding down momentarily to cup his bare ass cheek. She didn't need to see him smiling, she knew he was.  
  
She loved touching him as much as he loved being touched, tactile soul that he was. She felt a sadness creep in at the knowledge that his mother had hardly ever touched him physically as a child. That depravation of something so basic, so vital to a child's well being tugged at something deep with her. Despite everything else he had missed out on in the affection department early on, it was almost astonishing that as an adult he was such a totally loving, wonderful human being who gave her his whole heart and returned the affection, never holding back. His compassion was for people, for victims and anyone who needed his help. He never failed to touch the people he allowed his heart to trust in some small way. She wanted to cry at the irony, tears clouding the definition of his beautiful back for a few heartbeats as she found herself lost finally in the rhythm of her massage. With renewed purpose, her fingertips communicated love and acceptance in its purest form, her kneading the passion, her dedication for the man underneath her touch.  
  
Scully breathed out softly as she glided her hands lightly over the curve of his spine, applying the barest pressure to each individual vertebrae on the way towards his nape, slow fluid sweeps around his shoulder blades, sides and across the problem muscles in his neck and down his upper arms. His breath shifted almost imperceptibly beneath her hands and left her in no doubt that her skilled effleurage was having the desired effect and he'd been rendered into a deeply relaxed state.  
  
Time to kick those knots to the curb. Scully let her own weight glide her over the knotted muscles of his shoulders, eyes closing, she relaxed into her ministrations inhaling the scent of the heady oil, the feel of his skin and sensation of rocking guiding her hands. Pure instinct had taken over her now, working the unforgiving lumps that formed there, probing and kneading until they dissolved like butter under her fingers, making him groan with pleasure like a cat in sunshine. Imperceptible signs of approaching nirvana escaped his lips as his tension evaporated. Scully smiled at the ecstasy she knew he was feeling. He too had skilled hands when she needed them. Eyes closed, She smoothed each shoulder blade with slow firm strokes, loveing the feel of feel of his well defined bone structure, remembering intimately every inch, every curve and line in her minds eye, soothing the myriad of nerves that lay beneath, the only sounds in the room, their quiet breathing, now in unison and the slick slipperiness of fingers moving over skin and bone as she worked his back like a precious oiled canvas.  
  
"Turn over now, Mulder, might as well go all out on this." His eyelids flickered with drowsy slowness, her voice hot in his ear, and the feel of her hand rubbing his shoulder feeling wonderful and loved. Melting into the sweat dampened bed sheets seemed like a great option right now. "And the scenery is even better with you on your back, mister. "  
  
Mulder's sleepy smile lit up the whole bedroom as he languidly rolled over. Arms flung in abandon over his head, treating Scully eyes to the full naked glory of him. Only biting on her bottom lip stifled the gasp that threatened to escape her from the very depths of her lungs. No matter how many times she saw him naked, he never failed to rob her of her breath. He was damned near perfect, the kind of body poetry was written about and he was all hers.  
  
Scully glanced at her watch; she had time to make this count before they really had to make tracks. The cold chill that passed through her again, carefully extinguished before he caught it clouding her face. She drank in his beauty instead. His eyes were dark and dangerous as they watched her; mesmerized by the way her fingers folded over and over warming a new pool of the scented oil, eyes lifting from her fingers to her eyes and locking on target like a heat seeking missile. Lost in the love that he always found there, still not quite able to grasp that this prize was for him alone; deep rise and fall of his chest belaying the anticipation of her touching his over sensitized skin again. His eyes following her fingers down, chest heaving out all the air in his lungs as they finally touched his flesh and molded to the contours of his shoulders. By now he was gasping, biting his lip against runaway arousal he knew was making itself felt. She just smiled, beginning to move in sensuous slow strokes over the planes of his chest and stomach.  
  
"Just relax, Mulder."  
  
"Sculleeee..."  
  
"I know... I'm supposed to be just relaxing you. Shuuuuhhhh, just keep breathing. Concentrate and let go "  
  
"...Holy fuck, I'm more than relaxed, Scully! You ...don't know. ...What you ...do to me...." An unsteady breath that wheezed out of his now too narrow airway punctuated each word. The look on her face told him she knew all too well the effect she had on him. Scully watched his eyes shut tight against her fingers sliding lazily over his pectorals, a particularly erogenous part of his upper chest.  
  
"I have a fair idea, not that I'm intentionally trying to make L'il Mulder happy. Just think very old nuns and take big.... deep breaths." She intoned with a grin.  
  
"God!!..."  
  
Scully inwardly scolded herself for enjoying his predicament, but he was all too gorgeous squirming naked beneath her, baring himself so completely to her, watching him fight to keep his ragged breathing from going nova, even though she was only trying to relieve his tension. She moved softly but firmly from one muscle group to another, arms, chest and the soft skin of his stomach, taking great care over the more delicate areas. She carried on the delicious sensations for what seemed like an age, repeating and varying some of the strokes she had bestowed on his back, keeping the flow of her hands rhythmic and continuous, easing her hands into a never-ending symphony of light and firmer touches and sensation, dispersing any residual tension out of his body; finally moving to gently roll his neck to one side and then the other, all the while finger pads soothing away at his neck and into his scalp.  
  
She slowed after a while, her hands stilling over his chest, almost trancelike. Some sense inside her compelling her to remember every inch of skin her eyes could see; taking in every nuance and dip and curve right down the smattering of hair beneath her fingers, the few freckles he had, the beat of his heart, all catalogued and compartmentalized in her soul to remember forever. For a moment she couldn't raise her eyes. He licked his lips. Time seemed halted somehow. His soft voice brought her out of her fugue.  
  
"Scully?" His eyes held a question; she couldn't even begin to answer. She blinked, forcing a smile, that in his blissfully dreamlike state, Mulder hadn't yet noticed. Suddenly his hand stroked the curve of her cheek. She pointedly flicked her eyes at the dial of her watch. "Thank you."  
  
"I think were done, Mulder, were out of time." She lowered herself enough to plant a kiss on his lips, noting how alive and exhilarated he was. Glad to have given him a much needed energy boost. " Just lie still for a few moments, don't want you getting dizzy. "  
  
"Color me boneless, wow. Whatever did I do without you, Scully? "His voice barely a whisper and he raised up on one elbow to kiss her temple. His fingers worrying the sheen of perspiration on her forehead. "Some foreplay." His broad grin was all she could see. "I..."  
  
The sound of the phone blaring in the other room bled through their tranquility. Mulder froze.  
  
"Fuck!" Mulder growled, bolting off the bed haphazardly and disappeared onto the other room like a wraith, not bothering with any clothing. Scully stared after his naked ass, pulse doing double time.  
  
"Fuck!" she repeated, shaken; feeling a sudden winter chill wrap around her heart. All her work of the last ten minutes had been for nothing. 


	5. part5

Range of motion part 5 of ?  
  
Scully took a deep breath, gingerly opening the living room door.  
  
When Scully was a child, her dad told her stories of various favorite places he had been to in his Sea travels. She remembered especially his tales of Copenhagen and the 'Thinker' statue that that was so prominent in the Harbor as it greeted sailors from all over the world. Mulder was currently doing a passable impression of it as he sat naked and shivering on his sofa, phone pressed to one ear. His eyes were shut and he was shivering fiercely in the unheated air of the living room.  
  
Tonight she would drag him over to her place for the duration it took to get the heating fixed. If anyone could get pneumonia in his own home it would be just Mulder's luck. He looked like he was asleep, then the hand tucked in a tight fist under his chin started worrying his brow. It was only then that she realized he was listening. It was her turn to shiver.  
  
"...No sir, yes I know." Scully released the breath she didn't she'd been holding.  
  
Skinner.  
  
It was clear that whatever the AD was intoning down the line was pissing Mulder off. His brow had creased to a frown. He was quietly quaking with cold, although his voice was tense, rock steady with just an edge of defiance. Scully disappeared and came back with a blanket, which she draped over his bare frozen shoulders. Then held herself spooned to his back to in the hope it might him some extra heat. The gooseflesh on the arm holding the phone mesmerized her eyes.  
  
".....I won't. but....okay.....No, no. I won't risk the child by being wired. ...I won't sir. . aha. .... Has to be done this way...what?" His voice grew tenser and he white knuckled the phone so hard she thought it would merge with his skin. His eyes flicked down at the non-existent watch on his wrist when he suddenly glanced at it and frowned. " 1 hour...ok. Yes she's with me. .... Car trouble. She will be coming in with me. I appreciate that sir. ...but... Yeah I just want this bastard! .... I will. Meeting the SWAT team. Yeah. Me too. Goodbye sir."  
  
Scully cringed as Mulder slammed the phone back in its cradle then stared at it like it had burnt him. A deep angry sigh and several metaphors later, he turned finally to Scully leaning back into the warmth she offered. She immediately slid her arms around his waist as he kissed her ear lobe. His voice no more than a shaky whisper when she realized he had actually spoken. "Thank you".  
  
He was breathing rapidly and as her hand traveled up to his chest, his heart felt like something trying to fly apart in her hand. Slowly their breathing became synchronized in their well-practiced ritual of giving and taking comfort, silently calming the stress that flowed through both of them.  
  
"Is it a bird, is it a plane, no it's a bald guy who talks out of his ass and doesn't know shit what he's dealing with?" That was the tone Scully dreaded. The steely crack of frosted ice in his voice that spoke of defiance, not listening and taking crazy chances that lead to..... She held him tighter...no, she wasn't going there.  
  
His body was a rigid block of ice against her and his toes were going an unhealthy shade of blue.  
  
"What Mulder, what did Skinner say? She felt Mulder's chest expand and exhale long and slow against her. It was a breathless few seconds before he could find his words again, almost like he had to mentally reassess his ability to speak.  
  
"He is going with a SWAT team staked out down by the docks a couple of streets back from where I'm supposed to contact Bartoc. They are going to block off any escape routes within a mile radius. He's going to blow it Scully. I can feel it. Bartoc deals in precise absolutes, he'll fuck off the whole deal if its not executed to the letter."  
  
Scully shivered at his unfortunate use of words but tamped her fear behind the need to reassure her partner.  
  
"Then he isn't talking out of his ass, Mulder. He's concerned about your safety. As we all are." In Mulder's mind's eye all he could see was Tamara's scared face crumbling in fear. How typical of Mulder not to include his own safety into the equation. Both she and Skinner skirted the same wavelength of fear for his trademark dangerous tunnel vision. Even more so now with him still laid low by grief from his mother's tragic passing.  
  
Scully watched the shift in his eyes as she backed up to look at his face and could almost hear his thoughts bounce off the confines of her skull, feel it flood her soul. She knew this routine like an unwelcome visitor and inwardly cringed.  
  
Mulder was his own emotional Achilles heel right now. He was barely able to take a breath after the last few harrowing cases; he'd worked flat out on a couple VCU consults and had sustained a few minor injuries which he was still recovering from, and wasn't what she considered really up to dealing with anything more than day to day basic existence for a while in his present state, let along trying to get his head around a potentially knife edge situation. There was a nagging feeling that wouldn't let up inside that said all this was going to hell in a hand basket. Her arms clung onto him tighter and tighter until his breath hitched with the pressure and she was forced to take a gulp of air along with him. As she continued to push some warmth and comfort into him; his body, and her precipitous pall of doom, she got an insane urge to never let go of him again.  
  
"I'm sorry Scully," his lips ticked her in a breathy swell as he murmured against into hair; his arms wrapping around her like a boa. "But you know I just can't walk away from this now. It's too important. I just need to bring this to a good conclusion."  
  
I just need to bring this to a good conclusion. God, he made it sound so damn simple. A piece of cake.  
  
Scully nuzzled her face deeper into him to hide a threatening tear from falling, to no avail, and he hugged her closer still as her humorless laugh came out a warm gust against his heart.  
  
"Wouldn't be any use to try convincing you otherwise. You are intent on seeing this through, I know you, that's the way your guilt and selfless logic fires you but at least try and compromise with AD. Skinner. You are on the same team. You both want a good safe resolution and god knows I want that little girl home safe to grow up and enjoy her childhood but Jesus Mulder, do you realize how very bad this all looks?"  
  
"Yeah, but just this one time Scully...get tonight over with and I can rest. We can rest. In 24 hours we will be home and dry and I promise you, it will be just you and me, your skimpy bikini and my Speedos and us on our way to a well-deserved vacation of our dreams. It will be our time Scully, all ours. I.... .I just need to get this child home safe to her mother..." so that another mother doesn't end up like mine; tranquilized into mindless, empty oblivion with only a bottle of diazepam for company and a fractured neglected family, left to flounder like beached fish on a lonely shore. His inner anxiety supplied bitterly.  
  
What he couldn't tell Scully was that he had fudged away a few facts about this case; the most startling one was that Tamara had a brother. Jared. 12 years old and naturally devastated by a groundswell of guilt that she'd been snatched while in his care at a local park. Mulder had interviewed him alone while Scully was on a consult at Quantico; she only knew what little Mulder had divulged about the case. Skinner had assumed that Mulder would have filled her in on the rest and didn't call him on it. Partners were supposed to share information, but Mulder had lied by omission. A different kind of ditch, but a ditch all the same.  
  
In hindsight he was grateful he had left her out of the loop.  
  
The boy's shattered demeanor had mirrored his own in every way. Seeing this kid's stricken face, it was all he could do to halt the crashing wave of flashbacks.  
  
He didn't have to try hard imagining Scully's terrified reaction if she discovered this tidbit and the implications of the obvious parallels. Even though part of him was still trying to convince himself that this was all some kind of sad coincidence, deep down he knew that this bore the ominous watermark that was just too close to personal.  
  
However, this little girl had stolen his heart right from her school photos; her hazel eyed smile boring right into the chambers of his heart and filling them with her presence like an immovable warm little fist.  
  
'Focus! She isn't Sam. Tamara..not Sam!' But the fact was his flesh was already invisibly punctured and he bled out anyway all over the frigid steps outside her parents house, his sobs of confusion and incomprehensible sorrow drowning him like a waterlogged rodent as he slunk away into the night, as biting as the freezing wind and November snow flurries that pursued him in demonic ugliness back to his car.  
  
How many times could he do this...put himself on the rack again and again...he couldn't stop....no!!!  
  
Later in the shower, they continued to echo back at him from the hard barren tiles as he stood there as blazing torrents of water cascaded over his body, searing his skin like a penance for a failure of many years past, his outpouring catharsis mingling like poison with his sweat streaked fear and mocking him as it fled his presence through the drain by his toes.  
  
Scully's gentle kiss on his trembling lips startled him back to the present.  
  
"Mulder you're freezing lets get you warmed up." He laughed against her neck sending warm shivers through her. His laugh could always do that to her.  
  
"Why Agent Scully, did you know that you're fraternizing with a naked fellow FBI agent?" he flashed a teeth chattering grin at her. The smile not reaching his eyes. He was cold and in pain and she was heartbroken for him all over again. That smile was so out of place for what she knew he must have been feeling.  
  
She slapped him gently on his bare ass and pushed him in the direction of his shower.  
  
"Funny G man. I guess you will have to just write me up for it cos I think its becoming a habit and I plan on doing it a lot more." God willing she thought; though her optimism was seriously slithering through her feet at that point.  
  
"You grab a shower and warm up Mulder. I get some hot coffee going."  
  
"Sounds like a plan," he shivered ducking into the bathroom.  
  
Scully took a deep breath leaning one arm on the sink as she went about the ritual that brought the coffee machine to life. Soon the aroma warmed her senses and she heard the shower go on. She let her mind wander into freefall as she drank in the sound of the shower, coffeemaker and the fact that she also badly needed a shower. Skinner wouldn't appreciate the waft of raw sex floating around his office. She let her lips curl into a soft smile at the thought of creeping in and sharing Mulder's shower, slipping her arms around his wet soapy body and ......  
  
Rap rap rap!  
  
The door. Shit. Her hand slid to her terry towel covered hip for the gun that wasn't there and a curse tore from her lips, about the same time as the bathroom door flew open and a wet Mulder with just a towel around his waist breezed a pink and white streak ahead of her, his sig already drawn. She took a deep breath at the implication he was now taking his gun into the shower with him and was on his heels groping for her own gun on the coffee table. Mulder's chest was heaving double time as he dropped water all over the floor and she slid in beside him in a defensive posture.  
  
The rapping got louder and more insistent as they backed onto either side of the door, guns raised. They shared a moment of silent communication, their training kicking in but Scully thought she saw a sliver of fear, but it vanished in a heartbeat. Mulder was mouthing a countdown to her and she nodded in understanding, too shocked to get words past her windpipe. Mulder's other hand hovered over the doorknob.  
  
His eyes flashed 'Now' as he thrust the door open...  
  
To be continued .  
  
Part 6 coming soon. Reviews welcome. 


End file.
